 "Sachin Khilari has excelled in both - sports and academics. Reuters image")
Sachin Sarjerao Khilari on Wednesday grabbed his first Paralympics medal as his silver medal win stretched India’s record-breaking medal tally to 21 at the Paris 2024 Games. This is India’s best-ever performance at a single edition of Paralympics with their previous best coming at Tokyo 2020.
Sachin Khilari won the silver medal in the men’s shot put F46 with a throw of 16.32m , while Canada’s Greg Stewart bagged gold with a 16.38m throw. Croatia’s Luka Bakovic won bronze with a 16.27m throw.
Paris Paralympics 2024: News | Medal Tally | India Schedule
The F46 category is for athletes with upper limb/s affected by limb deficiency, impaired muscle power, or impaired passive range of movement.
A two-time world championship gold medallist, Sachin’s story is as inspiring as any. Apart from being a highly successful athlete, Khilari is also a mechanical engineer and visiting faculty.
Who is Sachin Khilari?
Sachin Khilari, who was born to a farmer’s family that hails from Karagani village in the Sangli district of Maharashtra, exemplifies that disability can be a gift rather than a hindrance. A tragic accident during school left him with a disability in his left hand.
Sachin was later introduced to para Sports in 2015 and participated in Jaipur for the national games in 2017 where he won the gold medal, later on, he was introduced to coach Satayanarayana who supported him in improving his game and helped him to switch to full-time athlete by 2019.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsExcelling in both sports and academics, Sachin has achieved notable success as a mechanical engineer.
He also works as a visiting faculty member at various institutions, assisting students in their MPSC and UPSC exam preparations.
Sachin has faced enormous challenges, including the loss of his mother at a young age and a crippling injury from a bicycle accident. Multiple surgeries failed to entirely repair his hand due to gangrene and muscle atrophy. Despite these obstacles, Sachin’s father was an unflinching supporter, serving both parental roles for Sachin and his younger brother. Sachin, with his father’s encouragement, has accepted his impairment and excelled in both physical and academic pursuits.
Sachin Khilari key details
Date of birth: 23rd October, 1989
Training base: Azam Campus, Pune
Achievement
Asian Para Games (2022) - Gold medal
World Para Athletics Championship (2024)- Gold medal
World Para Athletics Championship (2023)- Gold medal (AR)
5 times Gold medalist in the National Para Athletics Championship
Key government intervention
Financial assistance for equipment
Out of pocket allowance under TOPS